October 16, 2006 — When the nation’s most prolific patent company says that it is going to change the way in which it does business, folks tend to listen, particularly when so much of this nation’s commerce is tied up in commercialized intellectual property. IBM wants to change the way the patent system works, holding itself out as an exemplar of openness. What does IBM’s announcement really mean for an American patent system widely considered to be in mass disarray? It depends on whom you ask. IBM (http://www.ibm.com), though, is convinced that its initiative will help improve a patent system thought to be on the brink of collapse.